Malta to focus on obesity, cross-border co-operation during EU presidency

The main area of focus for health during Malta’s presidency of the Council of Europe will be obesity and structured cross-border co-operation, according to health minister Chris Fearne.

Addressing the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Europe, Fearne confirmed that the same health issues discussed in the committee will be the main areas for health during Malta’s presidency, namely obesity, in particular childhood obesity, and  structured cross-border co-operation, including access to specialised and innovative medicines.

“The changing social, cultural, political, economic, demographic and epidemiological realities render the task of addressing health issues in a holistic manner increasingly interesting,” Fearne said. 

He added that non-communicable disease, emerging infections and emergency preparedness remain concerns for the coming years. “We believe that to address these challenges we need to have strong and resilient health systems which are easily accessible, equitable and fair. Keeping these systems sustainable is a major concern, which we must address aggressively.”

“As an organisation, WHO Europe must also look at health equity across the continent, as well as actively engaging with all stakeholders, including patient representatives and the pharmaceutical industry. Malta will be addressing these exact issues during our EU presidency in the first six months of next year," Fearne said, adding that the adaptation and implementation of strategies and action plans at a national level are primarily a member state-driven initiative.

“However, the achievement of our national, regional and global goals and targets will still require a major input from the World Health Organisation. Therefore, WHO needs to be geared to address such challenges as well as deal with the crises which hit us from time to time,” he said, referring the WHO’s reform which has been ongoing for six years and spans over three levels; a programmatic reform to improve people’s health, a governance reform to increase coherence in global health and a managerial reform in pursuit of organisational excellence.

“With this in mind,” Fearne continued, “we would like to see a steady rate of implementation of the reform process. This process must render the organisation more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective in its role as the leading organisation in governance for health.”